I want to learn JDBC on a production quality DBMS, but I can't personally afford it. What can I do?

This is not the problem it once was, although your hard drive may groan. Many of the major DBMS vendors now offer personal or developer versions for download at no cost. The J2EE download also includes a supporting DBMS. In addition, there are several open source databases available. For more information on where to look for these products, see: My company says it can't aford a DBMS. What can I do?